Thursday, May 26, 2011

Best Bang for Your Buck (Home Improvement)



Do you ever log onto realtor.com and search the listings in your area even though you aren't in the market?  I love to check out the houses for sale for two reasons 1)It's a great way to get decorating  ideas and 2) To see what homes typically sale for in my area.  Its been awhile since I logged   on, but when I did recently I was completely shocked at what the houses are selling for.  I mean some of them are at least $30,000 less than what they originally sold for.



88,900
 

Photo of 19 N Indian Creek Place, Durham, NC 27703
105,000
 


502 Knightwood Drive, Durham, NC.
123,000
These are pretty nice homes and  I am now more aware of what we would face if we put our home on the market, a big loss not the gain we expected when we first bought our house 6 years ago.  We are satisfied with our house for  the moment, but eventually want to upgrade to a place with more space, but in this market we will be staying put for awhile.

So how do we know what to upgrade and improve.  We dont want to put more money into the house just to take a bigger loss one day down the road, but we also dont want to live with things as they are just to have to improve them to sell.  How do you balance improving your home without putting more in than what you can get out?

You dont have to break the bank to improve your home.

Wait for things to go on super sale, like we did when we installed our new flooring downstairs.  By hubby doing all the work himself, borrowing necessary tools instead of renting or buying, and waiting for a sale, we saved at least $1,200.

Decide what will give you the most bang for your buck

According to Kiplinger, these are the top three home improvement projects that will give your home  a better value.

4 comments:

  1. We replaced our countertops when we moved in 4 years ago, recently repainted the kitchen & it's cabinets...replaced the hardware and light fixtures, and closed in a screened porch to make a new room! I am hoping when we sell in the next 1-2 years, these things will help us! :)

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  2. I think about this sometimes. But then I think of all the work involved in selling and buying a new home and I think its not in the cards for us right now. We did refinance and 5 years from now we will be sitting awesome! We have a 15 year mortgage now. :)

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  3. I bought a fixer-upper a couple months ago. The better question would be what am I not updating/renovating? haha! I'm finishing up one of the bathrooms right now. It doesn't even look like the same room and I spent less than $300. It just shows improvements don't have to be expensive.

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  4. These are good tips for updating your home, thanks for sharing! We updated the kitchen and all the lighting in our 1930's home since we've been here, hoping it will help when we sell.

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